Snakes and Sh!t

The first clutch of the year was laid today, a clutch of Jungle Carpets. It looks to be 16 eggs total.

JCP babies can be a pain to work with at first, literally. They are easy to feed and get started but are quick to bite me any time I get within range.
I have always loved keeping them though and even as cranky babies I enjoy them immensely.

Last season I lost a great portion of my Jungle eggs, but I’m hoping to do better this season. The male I used was breeding for his first time last year so I’m hoping that might have had something to do with the fertility.
I’ll be waiting to see those little pissed off heads popping out sometime in mid June.

Clay :: Apr.18.2009 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

The breeding season is pretty much winding down. Ordinarily my colubrid season would be just beginning, but this year I sent all my colubrid breeders to a friend of mine so he could breed them.
I wasn’t interested in the extra work and he needed some more things to breed so it worked well for both of us.

I’ve more or less finished pairing most of the pythons. The bredli are the exception, they have a slightly different breeding regimen than most other pythons and the main breeding season doesn’t begin until after the warm up.
They are now back in the snake room and are still being paired.

The womas bred well all winter, and one does look like she’s working on some eggs, but I’m not making any promises just yet. I’ve been fooled by them more than once.

I hate to say it but I’m not sure what I might produce with the balls. I put a lot of them together this season, but I didn’t watch them very closely. I’m just much more interested in some of my other projects.
I suppose I’ll just wait and see which ones lay eggs if any and go from there.

I’m actually considering selling the entire ball project so I can better focus on some of the other species. Feel free to contact me for details if you’re interested in acquiring my breeding stock.

Clay :: Apr.02.2009 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

I’m still working the details out of my methods for breeding the bredli. This season I decided to cool them awhile and begin introductions before the warm up period to see what happens.

I came home the other morning to find them copulating at 60 degrees. I’ll continue introductions for the duration of the cool period and after they warm up as well to try to take advantage of the widest window I can this year.
Hopefully I’ll manage to get some eggs from them this season. This is one of the projects I’m most excited about because I haven’t as of yet successfully reproduced this species.

I’ll post updates on their progress here in the blog as anything develops.

Clay :: Mar.05.2009 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

The United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) is leading the fight against the new proposed legislation against the keeping of pythons among others.
If you are not yet a member of USARK I strongly encourage you to join today. As their motto states there’s strength in numbers and numbers is what we need at this crucial time in our hobby. If we do not band together and fight this legislation as one body, then our ability to enjoy the keeping of any python species, as well as boas and potentially many others, is doomed.

Click the banner below to go to the USARK website where you can become a member and join the fight against this oppressive legislation.

Clay :: Feb.14.2009 :: Herp News, Reptile Related :: No Comments »

We are officially under attack fellow herpers. An attack the magnitude of which we have never faced before.
Two bills have been introduced into congress within the last two weeks. If passed they will virtually destroy the reptile keeping hobby overnight. All boas and pythons will instantly become illegal to possess, let alone breed, sell, or transport across state lines.
The threat resulting from the situation in the Everglades that we have been afraid of is upon us.
H.R. 669 and S.373 are the two bills that are aiming to be the death of the reptile hobby.
I’m not going to go into detail about it here on the blog, this situation is important enough that I wrote page dedicated to it. You can read it here http://www.arbreptiles.com/lastword/legislation.shtml

Everyone needs to contact their congressmen about these bills and encourage them to vote no. These bills if passed will make nearly all of us criminals overnight. even if you only keep colubrids of you’re strictly a frog keeper, you are still potentially affected by this legislation. H.R. 669 is open ended and can potentially have any species added to the list at any time.

Clay :: Feb.07.2009 :: Herp News, Reptile Related :: No Comments »

Larry and BT, the guys that bring us Reptile Radio have a new forum now for all the Bush League Breeders.
If you don’t know what a Bush League Breeder is then you probably haven’t listened to Reptile Radio on Saturday nights at midnight. A Bush League Breeder is small time breeder like myself and most likely like anyone reading this blog. Someone who does it because they love watching snakes hatch and tends to get pissed off occasionally by all the BS on the business side of the hobby.

There’s a good group of people who are very active over there, so if you get the chance drop in and check it out.
You can click their logo below to go straight to the forums.

Clay :: Jan.15.2009 :: Herp News, Reptile Related :: No Comments »

I’ve written a new article in the “Last Word” section of the site called Adventures in Rodent Breeding
I’ve had a couple of incidents concerning the rats over the last month that resulted in the article.
Sometimes they’re almost more aggravating than their worth haha.

Also as a result of an incident that occurred after the article was written, I have retrofitted my older rat breeding racks so that the tubs are supported from underneath. There’s a supplement page linked from the how to page on building those racks, and I would encourage any who are planning on building them to go with the underneath support option.

Clay :: Jan.07.2009 :: Random Thoughts, Reptile Related :: No Comments »

Due to my continued procrastination, I hadn’t updated the available page this season. Most of what I produced was sold before I even got pics taken.
I’ve got the ball python page updated with most of what I have left.
There are 2.1 albinos, 1.0 pastel, and soem I haven’t taken pics of, 0.2 100% het albino girls, and 3 normal females.

You can see the pics here http://www.arbreptiles.com/list/available.shtml

Clay :: Nov.02.2008 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

Well the wait is over, the last albino clutch has hatched. This was an anticipated clutch this season. I bought the het female as a near breedable adult in 2006. She didn’t breed that season, but I bred her to a het male in 2007. Five eggs were produced with no albinos. This of course brings up the dreaded question of whether the female was indeed het because the male I used was proven to be het by me.

I trusted the fellow I bought her from and the person who originally produced her both by reputation so I really didn’t think either would have intentionally sold a misrepresented snake. I know though that mistakes do happen and sometimes in a rack of 50 babies a mix up can occur so the possibility loomed over me for a year.

This season I bred her to a visual albino male and got a clutch of seven eggs. After the long wait of incubation they finally hatched this week. The count is four albinos and three 100% hets.
Whew! That was a big worry off me. I really didn’t want to go back to the fellow I bought her from and try to convince him he’d made a mistake.

I haven’t sexed the clutch yet so I don’t know what the ratios will be but I’m fairly sure that there will be both sexes of albinos.

That was the last clutch of the season but the next breeding season is fast approaching.

Clay :: Sep.27.2008 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

Well, I had a great time in Raleigh, caught up with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time and met a few new ones. I sold a few snakes too, which was a nice bonus to the weekend.

The proceeds of the show are going to buy some new caging from Reptile Basics. I know, I’ve always taken pride in the fact I’ve never bought any cages, I’m the do it yourself guy, but I finally had to admit that i just don’t have the time to build everything I need. So I looked at all the major cage manufacturers and I decided that I was most impressed with the cages from RBI Plastics. I’ve got six 3×2 cages being built now which will go a long way toward getting me out of my caging deficit.
Once I’ve used them for a little while, I’ll write a review of them and add to that section of the site.

I also got some new animals while I was at the Raleigh show. After five years of swearing off insectivores, except for my dwarf monitors, I bought four crested geckos. I’ve always liked them but until now I’ve managed to hold to my no lizards rule and resist getting any. I’m really glad I did though, they are neat little geckos and I’ve been needing something new like that to stoke the fire so to speak.

The other new addition I picked up was a pair of Lady Gouldian finches. I’ve always enjoyed keeping birds I’ve wanted some Gouldians since the first time I saw some years ago. They are a truly beautiful finch, and I plan to add another couple of pairs in the future.

All in all I enjoyed vending again after such a long break from it and I will probably do it again once next year.

Clay :: Sep.15.2008 :: Random Thoughts, Reptile Related :: No Comments »

I will be vending at the Raleigh herp show the weekend of August 30th.

This will be the first show I’ve had a table at since I quit doing them in 1999.
I figured I’d give it a  try and see how it goes. Shows are a hassle to do, but with shipping costs rising steadily I think they might start to be worth the time again.

I plan to have quite a few balls there, including spiders, pastels, and albinos, and of course the normal and het siblings. I’ll also have some jungle carpets, some kings and milks, and maybe even some roaches.
If you’re at the show stop and say hi. We won’t have a banner, but my name tag will say Clay, and I’ll probably be the only Clay there. Mention that you saw this post in the blog and I’ll give you 10% off anything you buy.

Clay :: Aug.05.2008 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

Two clutches hatched last week, the jungle carpets and a ball python spider clutch.
Most of the jungle carpet clutch was infertile. An unproven male was the father, so it may have been due to it being his first season. Four hatchlings were produced.

The spider clutch had somewhat poor odds. Two spiders hatched and five normal siblings. Both spiders are males.

I have posted a new article in the Last Word section about the “wobble head” condition of spider balls and my opinions on the topic. You can read it here http://www.arbreptiles.com/lastword/spider_wobble.shtml

Clay :: Jun.13.2008 :: Reptile Related, Site News and Updates, The Collection :: No Comments »

Snakebytes.tv is a new site being launched soon by Brian Barczyk of BHB Reptiles.
It will be a weekly show about the world of a large scale reptile breeder. Word has it this may be the forerunner of an actual television show.
I’m really looking forward to the official launch of the site.

The website for Snakebytes.tv is http://www.snakebytes.tv/
Snakebytes YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/SnakeBytesTV

I think a show like this, especially should it make it to television, has enormous potential for our hobby. It would help bring us more into the mainstream and legitimize our hobby if you will.
The great expansion of the reptile hobby over the last decade and a half is a double edged sword to me, but now that we have grown to the point we are, I feel it is important to bring the hobby to the forefront.

Many years ago we were basically ignored by lawmakers and the public in general due to our small numbers and general preference to operate “under the radar” so to speak. We have now reached a point that we are large enough to draw the attention of the public and the lawmakers, and all too often that attention is negative. We will now have to expand further to gain the strength to avoid being legislated out of existence.

Watch for the launch of Snakebytes.TV and support it. Tell your friends about it. Get the number of viewers as high as we can so show the interest is there.
We are at a precarious point in the development of the hobby, and the next few years will determine whether we will be the last generation to enjoy keeping reptiles like we do today.

Clay :: Jan.09.2008 :: Herp News, Reptile Related :: 2 Comments »

I know some of you are waiting on the new rat rack plans to get posted.
I wanted to give you an update. I’m still waiting on a few of the components for the watering system to arrive. I will post the plans as soon as they are completed.
There’s no need to email me asking about them, the plans will be published as soon as I get the page written. The rack is built, I’m only waiting on the last parts for the watering system.

I did intend to have the plans completed before Christmas, but I just wasn’t able to.

Clay :: Dec.30.2007 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

I always find the unique behaviors of many animals to be fascinating. No matter how much we learn about nature, it seems there’s always something else ready to amaze us.

I saw this article today about how squirrels in California were found to be using snake skin to scent themselves with to aid in avoiding rattlesnake predators.
An excerpt from the article:

Rattlesnakes often chow down on unwary squirrels, but new research shows the rodents fight back by eating, rubbing and even bathing themselves with pieces of discarded snake skin.

The reptilian musk helps California ground and rock squirrels mask their natural scent and thereby avoid detection from their slithering nemeses.

See this page for the full article http://tinyurl.com/2g4qzr

Every time I see something interesting such as this I can’t help but wonder just how much is going to go completely unknown as a result of species being driven to extinction from mankind’s relentless pursuit of “progress”.

Clay :: Dec.28.2007 :: Herp News, Random Thoughts, Reptile Related :: No Comments »

I must say this action is the single most ignorant and intentionally damaging act to be perpetrated on our hobby to date. The turtle farmers of Louisiana in their blind attempt to get the sale of hatchling red eared sliders legalized in the US have simultaneously endangered the entire reptile hobby.
I cannot believe the combination of gall and stupidity displayed here.

What has happened is an amendment has been added to an agricultural bill after it was passed by the Senate. The amendment was introduced by Senator Mary Landrew (D La). I’ll copy the full text of the amendment at the end of this post, read the entire thing, and pay particular attention to the bold text.

This amendment puts the entire reptile industry in jeopardy. The turtle farmers who pushed for this amendment obviously care nothing for the rest of the industry, only themselves, for what they have done is basically attempt screw the rest of us over completely.

Here is the text of the amendment. This is quoted from Herp Digest

Continue Reading »

Clay :: Dec.27.2007 :: Herp News, Reptile Related :: 1 Comment »

A sickness in the family kept me from doing any cage building or pairing of snakes over the holiday weekend as I had planned. I spent it in the hospital instead.
We’ve got that behind us now though, so I stared pairing a few snakes this week. I’m still holding off on most of them, but I’ve got one female that has copulated a couple of times with a spider, and I have a lemon pastel male with a female now.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be putting more together. I’m going to let the albino male have a week or two to temperature cycle alone  before letting him have any girls. He didn’t show any breeding interest last season, but he was only a little over a year old. I’m hoping he’ll be up to the task this year.

Back to cage building tomorrow. I’m hoping to make some good progress on the new boa cage and maybe even get started on some of the new rodent racks.

Clay :: Nov.29.2007 :: Reptile Related :: No Comments »

I decided to put off starting the breeding season this year. I normally start pairing up the ball pythons in October sometime, and getting to the other pythons later on. I decided to wait until late November at least before I start introductions with the balls and see how that works.

For whatever reason I often see a 50% success rate in female becoming gravid, so I’m going to switch things up a little.
I went through and weighed my potential breeders a few days ago. Looks like I’ll have three more girls I hatched in 2004 that will be ready to join the stable this year.
The het clown female that produced the two awesome clowns for me this year is heavier now than before she was bred last year, so I’m hoping she’ll produce again.

One of my het albino females took this year off, and the other is a big 1900+ grams, so if my albino male decides to cooperate maybe I won’t miss the gene this year.

The spider male is of course ready to go, I think eat and breed is all the spiders are concerned with. He’s over 1100 grams now.  My lemon pastel male has crossed 1000 so maybe he’ll decide he’s ready this year too.
Unfortunately my female pastel isn’t going to be up to size to breed it doesn’t look like, so I might not see bumblebees this year after all.

I’ll be trying the bredli for the first time this season and I’ll be pairing the womas again as well. My woma technique still isn’t worked out completely and I’ve had mixed success in the past. I’m going to work on them again and see if I can get both females to reproduce for me.

We always have much more potential in a given season than we have results though, and I think most breeders understand that all too well. We’ll see in a few months how our plans work out, and as usual we have hopes of a very good season ahead.

Clay :: Nov.13.2007 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

It’s been a few months since there’s been a new cage design published on the site. Due to the format of my cage plans in that they are not drawings, but photos of the actual build, I can only add plans as I build cages and it’s just not that often that I come up with a new design.

This cage however is a big departure from what I have normally built. It’s going to be the most labor intensive cage I’ve built to date, but I think it’ll be worth it.
I’m looking forward to getting it in use and publishing the build on it. Being an experimental design though, I’m also just hoping that it’s usable once it’s built haha.
Not many people know the specifics of this cage yet, but just for a sneak preview, it’s being built to house large boa constrictors and will be 5 feet wide. My aim is to create a more stimulating environment for the snakes and maximize the opportunity for exercise while not taking up a lot of real estate in the room.

Actual assembly was ready to start yesterday, but I had to quit for the day.  My wife works nights too and I couldn’t fire up the air compressor without waking her up ;).
I’m hoping to get to work on it a bit in the morning before I have to go to bed. I’m still not expecting to have it finished until probably December.

This is the first time I’ve  started construction on a cage without having the entire plan in my head. I hadn’t decided on the type of doors, but right now I’m leaning toward hinged.
I still haven’t fully decided on the heating method either. I wanted to experiment with radiant heat panels, but I’m not sure that is going to happen in time, so I might have to fall back to the flexwatt on this one.

We’ll see how it turns out in the end, but I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks of this project.

Clay :: Nov.11.2007 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: No Comments »

I rode down to Columbia last Saturday for the show. I haven’t been much of a show goer for the last few years, I think it was spring of 2006 since I’d been to one.

It was a good trip, the show was moderately good, not a lot there that interested me. I mainly went to see the eyelash vipers that David Kornerly was bringing. He had some outstanding specimens, and I enjoyed talking with him a few minutes.

I did pick up another addition to my lepidus group, a Davis Mountains locality male. Click the thumbnail below for a bigger pic of him.

It was worth the trip, since I hadn’t been to a show in so long, and better than the average Raleigh show these days.

Clay :: Nov.08.2007 :: Reptile Related, The Collection :: 1 Comment »